Friday, January 8, 2021

End of Watch Report December 2020

 

In the final month of 2020, a total of 26 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty. Of those line of duty deaths, 19 were the result of COVID, 4 were the result of gunfire (3 felonious, 1 inadvertent), 2 were auto-related (1 motorcycle crash, 1 struck by vehicle), and 1 was the result of 9/11-related cancer.

The final number of line of duty deaths in 2020 currently stands at 304, which is more than double the 2019 total. Without doubt, 2020 was the deadliest year for law enforcement in almost a century.  The last time annual line of duty deaths topped 300 was in 1932. 

In addition, a further 200+ potential line of duty COVID deaths are still pending verification, which  means that 2020 may end up being the deadliest year for law enforcement in all of U.S. history.

The Officer Down Memorial Page extends our condolences to the families, friends, and agencies who lost a loved one to a line of duty death. We ask our supporters to take a moment to read the memorials of those officers who died in the line of duty in December 2020 and remember the fallen.


Deputy Sheriff Jared Michael Allison
Nash County Sheriff's Office (NC)
 
Chief Deputy Constable M. Wayne Rhodes
Denton County Constable's Office - Precinct 2 (TX)
 
Officer Andy Ornelas
California Highway Patrol (CA)

Detective Sergeant Te'Juan Fontrese "T.J." Johnson
Charlestown Police Department (IN)

Officer Jose A. Santana
U.S. Dept of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations (U.S. Govt)



Officer Jose A. Santana
U.S. Dept of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations (U.S. Govt)

Patrolman Cassie Marie Johnson
Charleston Police Department (WV)
 
Sergeant Herschel Turner
Moline Acres Police Department (MO)

Trooper Jennifer M. Czarnecki
New York State Police (NY)

Captain Billy DeWayne Allen, Sr.
U.S. Dept of Defense - Fort Sill Police Department (U.S. Govt)

Sergeant Lyle Gene Denny
Panhandle Police Department (TX)
 
Corrections Officer V Timothy Beggs
Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division (TX)
 
Police Officer Tyler Avery Herndon
Mount Holly Police Department (NC)
 
Master Corporal Norman Daye, Jr.
Guilford County Sheriff's Office (NC)
 
Lieutenant Russell Freeman
Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RI)

Corrections Officer IV Harold Paul "Skip" Smith, Jr.Beggs
Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division (TX)
 
Police Officer Jason Nicholas Shuping
Concord Police Department (NC)

Sheriff Benny N. Napoleon
Wayne County Sheriff's Office (MI)
 
Officer Andrew Raymond Bouchard
Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division (TX)

Lieutenant Craig L. King
Tarrant County Sheriff's Office (TX)

Police Officer Christopher Lynn Elder
Milford Police Department (TX)

Sergeant David Lynn Schmidt
Seagoville Police Department (TX)

Security Control Specialist Jerry William Jones
Tarrant County Sheriff's Office (TX)

Corrections Officer V Phillip Holbert
Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division (TX)

Officer Randall Versie Smith
Birmingham Police Department (AL)

Corrections Officer V Joe Landin
Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division (TX)